The present invention relates generally to aircraft on-board systems and, more particularly, to on-board fuel tank inerting systems.
Fuel tank inerting systems are used to introduce an inert gas, such as nitrogen, into the fuel tanks of a vehicle, such as an aircraft. The inert gas displaces potentially dangerous fuel and air mixtures, thereby reducing the risk of explosion or fire. Typical on-board fuel inerting systems process an air source, such as bleed air taken from the engines of an aircraft. Bleed air leaving the engines is extremely hot and must be cooled for processing. However, cooling the bleed air to a safe temperature for fuel tank inerting requires expensive processing components.